Media Tactics That Get Attention

Holiday media is crammed with advertisers claiming to offer the latest and greatest everything for everybody. Get out your boxing gloves, because it’s a seasonal fight for media space and consumer attention.

How do you get a word in edge-wise? What’s holiday newsworthy, and how do you rise above the competition with editors who are equally bombarded (and equally stressed)?

Feature News Releases

Media Editors look for outstanding stories that will engage their readers’ emotions. You can get a feel for this prior to creating your news release:

Review their past feature stories for examples of what they deem worthy.

For example, if you’re targeting a local newspaper that’s circulated to the general public, it may be a deeply-felt human interest story related to the holiday season. To make your story stand out, bring it home to the reader by highlighting heartfelt experiences of helping real people in severe or unusual need. Make it interesting by making it really different. For instance, in this year’s economy, it could be a family that’s newly homeless due to job loss and how your company helped them. And be sure to tie it to the holiday season. How can your company help give them some happiness this season, despite their circumstances?

Customize Your Holiday Media Campaign

Media Editors can spot a generic and inauthentic news release in about two seconds. Your one-size-fits-all story just won’t hit the mark most of the time. So DON’T send the same story to every media outlet.

Do some homework, and craft your basic story to the individual media type and their audience. For example, publicizing an event that’s open to the public and benefits a charity may be perfect for a public service space on a radio station. It could be written as an invitation with background information. That same press release targeting television could be more effective if something visual is highlighted, such as the faces of the children involved, and the happiness they feel. TV might cover the event and run it afterwards, instead of before.

Online Press Releases

For holiday press, human interest stories have an excellent opportunity to go viral. Write your story, make it short, and include photos. Release the story:

On your social network platform

Distributed to free online press release sites

Through your email database

In your newsletter

The chances of it going viral increase if you:

Run some kind of a contest (Photo submission? Story submission?)

Utilize video (make it funny!), or

Offer something free.

Timing and creativity are super important. So be BOLD!

What catches your eye during the holiday season?

Ms. Chapman’s new book, How to Make Money Online With Social Media: A Step-by-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com